Ice, Fire, and Love
by DarthMittens
Summary: Percy Jackson is attending a new high school in the middle of his senior year. There he meets Annabeth Chase, frigid and friendless. He knows he has what it takes to melt the ice enveloping her heart, but can he do so while simultaneously juggling school, swimming, friends, homework, and being a demigod? Percabeth. Slightly AU.
1. A New School

**A/N: Hello fellow greekheads! I haven't done a Percy Jackson fanfiction in a while, but Mark of Athena has rekindled my desire to do so (even though I STILL haven't finished reading it)! Here's chapter 1!**

**Enjoy!**

**Ice, Fire, and Love**

**Chapter 1 - A New School**

**Percy POV**

I sighed as I shouldered my backpack and walked through the doorway, my hair hanging in my eyes a bit as I tried to blend in with the crowd. I hoped I wouldn't attract attention.

That usually led to my expulsion.

Unfortunately, blending in wasn't much of an option. If I had come on the first day of school it would have been great, but I had been expelled from my last school during October. I was now starting at Goode High School in early November.

I got a couple odd looks as people realized that they hadn't seen me before, and I tried to tuck my head down and go straight to my locker, where my books were already waiting. Apparently I was banned from the library since that was where the incident happened at the last school, so the staff had stocked my locker full of the books I needed.

I sighed as I took out the book I'd need for first period, English, and ignored the curious looks that were being cast my way. It was only a few seconds until class started when I finally arrived.

Oddly enough, it looked as though I was the last one to show up for class considering there was only one seat left. It was in the far back corner, right next to the large window that constituted the entire wall. There was a girl sitting to my right, her face hidden behind a book, her blonde curls trailing down her back. She didn't even glance over at me as I took my seat, and I shrugged indifferently before taking out my binder and flipping it to the first page. I was determined to finish the school year here no matter what it took. My mother already had enough to worry about without trying to find me a new school every three months.

A group of popular kids were all gathered around four desks near the middle. How could I tell they were popular? Well, after going to so many schools it was painfully obvious who was cool and who wasn't. They all had different airs around them that were pretty easy to read and determine where on the social ladder they were.

It wasn't very hard to determine that the girl sitting next to me was a nerd. I didn't mind nerds, bookworms, or brown-nosers that much since they were generally pretty nice, but it was generally pretty difficult to get them to open up about themselves.

One of the popular guys, a taller blond guy, noticed me. He called across the room, "Watch out for Annabeth, new guy. You don't want to get infected by her weird."

And it was already decision time. The girl sitting next to me stiffened, making me assume she was Annabeth. Her head lowered a bit, and I couldn't help but think to myself that it was unfair of her to make a gesture like that. I couldn't help it when girls were involved; my mom had ingrained it into me to always be nice to them.

So I looked the guy dead in the eye and light-heartedly said, "Better weird than an asshole."

The room went silent as everyone looked at me, even Annabeth. I glanced over at her to find that she was looking at me like I was an idiot, which confused me. Wasn't I helping her out?

The cool guy looked stunned for a moment, then laughed disbelievingly. "I'm going to tell you this now..."

"Percy," I said challengingly. I was a demi-god. I wasn't afraid of some punk like this guy, who I already decided I didn't like.

The guy shook his head at my tone. "I understand where you're coming from, Percy. You're standing up for someone. I get it. I respect that. I'm going to tell you, though, that there's no point in standing up for her. She's just going to be a bitch to you regardless. You look like you have potential, Percy, like you can hang with us. So think before you act in the future." He pointed at me seriously. "I'm letting you slide this time."

Now it was my turn to look at someone like an idiot, which is exactly what I did to the back of the 'popular' guy's head as he sat down. What a jerk. Those type of people were exactly the one's I didn't want to associate with.

The teacher came in at that moment, and I was immediately taken by surprise by how young he was. If I had to guess, I would have put him at 25 years old. No wonder all the popular kids weren't sitting in the back; this teacher must have been pretty cool.

"Annabeth, as much it pleases me that you love to read, I believe you know the drill," he said without even looking at her.

Annabeth paused, sighed, and slowly closed her book, looking up at the teacher with boredom.

The teacher then turned to me and said, "Well class, we have a new student joining our English class today, and I'd like you all to meet him."

He gestured to me and I sighed as I stood up. I hadn't had to do this since the fifth grade. "Hey everyone," I said, looking out at everyone. Public speech was actually one of my strengths. "I'm Percy, which is short for Perseus Jackson." I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Annabeth finally looked at me. I felt oddly exposed to her gaze, as if she could see absolutely everything about me; even more than I knew about myself. "I move around a lot and have the bad habit of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I often get blamed for things I don't do, so if you do something noticeably wrong, just blame it on me."

Some of the class laughed as I sat down, which kind of confused me. I wasn't trying to be funny; I was telling them the truth. I didn't deserve to be expelled from my previous schools. Trouble just had a knack for finding me and making me look bad.

I glanced over at Annabeth to find that she was now writing on a pad of paper that looked like it had blueprints on it.

As the teacher began his lesson for the day, I whispered, "Hey, what is that?"

I figured she seemed nice enough to be friendly toward.

But when she looked up at me with her incredibly keen grey eyes, they were cold as she said, "None of your business."

I frowned and turned back toward the front of the class, noticing as I did so that the blond dude from earlier was giving me a look that said, 'I told you so.'

I had to give it to him. The man wasn't exaggerating.

It turned out English wasn't so bad. The teacher, Mr. Wallace, was really cool and kept the class pretty fun by being energetic and spontaneous. I found myself wondering if this was how all teachers started out. After all, there was no way somebody could maintain the energy that Mr. Wallace kept for long.

Despite the class being fun and engaging, I spent most of the class period trying to break my bad habit of spinning Riptide between my fingers. One day the cap was going to go flying off and my celestial bronze sword, made to slay the monsters that inhabited Tartarus, would pass right through my mortal classmates.

It wouldn't do anything other than give them a scare unless I ended up accidentally cutting myself, of course.

I tried to start conversations with Annabeth multiple times. I didn't know why, but the colder she acted toward me the more interested I became in her and becoming her friend. Besides wondering about Mr. Wallace's energy, I also spent a bit of the class wondering what Annabeth's friends would be like.

And for some reason, they looked like my mom's book club that she met with on Tuesday nights.

When the bell rang I stood up and stretched, and the blond guy came to the back to me and held out his hand, a smile on his face. "Hey, Percy, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Welcome to Goode High. I'm Luke Castellan."

Now that was more like it. I took his hand and said, "Thanks."

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Annabeth was already leaving the room, her head down.

"Don't mind her," Luke said, pushing my back so I would get moving out of the classroom. "She's a bit different. She likes being alone."

"Alone?" I couldn't help but ask. "So you mean she doesn't even have any friends at all?" So much for the book club.

Luke sighed. "I think I was her only friend at one point, but that was forever ago, all the way back in middle school, and even then she ended up pushing me away."

I was caught by surprised that he actually seemed sad about the fact that their friendship had ended.

"Anyway," Luke continued, "life goes on. I'm captain of the basketball team right now despite my height." He looked over at me, sizing me up. "You play any sports?" he asked.

"I'm not really a...uh...team player, I guess," I said truthfully. I had always done everything alone, even back down in my dad's palace when we were supposed to be practicing group exercises and formations. "I'm a pretty good swimmer, though."

Luke nodded, impressed. I was more impressed by the fact that people were parting in the hallways so we could pass through. Luke must have been seriously popular. "I can introduce you to the swim captain if you want. If I might offer you a warning, though, he's pretty dang strict." He leaned in towards me as if he was about to divulge the most important secret known to man. "If you try to join the team, you all go shopping together and you can't eat anything that's even remotely delicious."

I slowly nodded. Being forced to eat certain foods wasn't new to me and I certainly loved being in the water enough, so I figured I would give it a go. "Thanks for the warning," I said.

A bell rang at that moment and Luke slapped his forehead. "I totally forgot to ask you what your next class was, man. I've been walking towards my next class this whole time."

"Oh, I completely forgot too," I admitted, pulling out my schedule. "My bad."

Luke took a look at my schedule and said, "Bad luck, dude, that was the two minute warning bell and your class is on the other side of the school. Sorry."

"It's fine," I said as he began looking around for something.

He seemed to spot it pretty quickly, and led me over to an emo-looking dude who was probably a couple years younger than us. "Nico," Luke called.

"What do you want this time, Luke?" Nico asked, obviously not a big fan of his senior.

Luke rolled his eyes and said, "Look dude, the new guy here has a class that's on the other side of school and I've seen you walking over there at this time with Thalia." Luke said Thalia as if it was the most lovely thing in existence. Somebody had a crush. "Will you show him to his next class?"

Nico sighed the long, defeated sigh of someone who knew they couldn't say no. "Fine," he said. "I'm waiting on Thalia anyway."

Luke had already turned around and waved over his shoulder. "Thanks!" he called.

So it was just me and Mr. Moody. We stood in silence for a couple seconds before I finally said, "So...I'm Percy Jackson."

"Nico di Angelo," he replied without looking at me, his arms folded over his chest as he stared down the hall while leaning against the lockers. "And watch out for Luke. He seems to be acting nice toward you at the moment, but you make one little slip-up and you're excommunicated from the 'popular' club for life."

I nodded, unsure of what to say. This school seemed to be the same as any other so far. As usual, I found it funny that everybody warned me to watch out for everyone else. I already knew that everyone was out to get each other and that they all had their own motives for acting friendly towards me or not.

"I'll...uh...make sure to keep that in mind I guess," I said.

At that second a girl showed up, backpack on one arm and short, pitch-black hair spiked up. She looked more punk than emo and was wearing a shirt with a band on it I've never heard of, and I was surprised to find that she had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. Being in her very presence made the hairs on my arms stand up, as if she was emitting powerful electricity.

"Hey," she said to me. "I'm Thalia."

"Percy Jackson," I said. "Nice to meet you."

She nodded her head and said, "Likewise."

Thalia looked at Nico questioningly, and he said, "He's new. I'm showing him to his class."

"Ah," said Thalia. "Shall we get going then?"

And so the three of us headed over to class, which I discovered on my way over there was my History class. History was normally cool, but in senior year of high school history was government and economics.

Booooooring.

As we walked I discovered that Thalia did a really good job with bringing energy to the table that Nico was lacking. She kept up the conversation the entire walk, asking about my past, in which I made sure to not reveal that I was a demi-god.

Admitting that aloud was the first step towards being admitted into an insane asylum.

By the time we arrived at my next class (a couple minutes late, to be precise), I had decided that Nico and Thalia were pretty cool people...as in I could see myself becoming friends with them. I usually had no desire to make new friends at school because I would probably be expelled pretty quickly, but I was determined to stick it out this time. And if I wanted to make it through the year, I figured the easiest way to do that would be to make reasons for wanting to stay, such as making friends that would miss me and that I would miss if I had to leave again.

When I got to history class I took the only available seat, which happened to be in a new back corner next to Annabeth. She wasn't reading this time, though, she had that sheet with the blueprints on it on her desk once again. She seemed to be deep in thought, and had taken care of any possible issues of her hair getting in the way by putting it up in a messy bun, which was being held together by a single pencil.

I tried sneaking a peak again as the history instructor went into his lecture, which was about the judicial branch of the government.

Like I said, boring stuff.

"What do you want?" Annabeth asked in an annoyed voice without looking over at me.

I just shook my head and turned back toward the board, deciding it wasn't worth it during class. Maybe I could give it a try during lunch.

Third period was much of the same, with me sitting next to Annabeth again. She never seemed to pay attention in class; she was always either reading or working on that blueprint-thingy of hers, and I found myself wondering if she got good grades or not with that kind of work ethic.

I had a free fourth period, which I used to scope out the school. I also went to the counselor's office to get a note for P.E. that would instead let me go to the pool to try out for the swim team.

When lunch rolled around, I headed out to the outdoor quad area and searched for either Annabeth or Nico and Thalia, deciding that I'd sit with whoever I found first. It took almost five minutes for me to find either one of them, and when I did spot one it was Annabeth.

It wasn't much of a surprised to me at that point that she was alone and reading a book as she slowly ate her sandwich, oblivious to everything happening around her. I walked over to her and sat next to her, taking my packed lunch out as I did so I could eat some of my mom's delicious cooking, even if it was just a turkey sandwich with some mustard and mayonnaise.

I noticed that Annabeth barely even reacted when I sat next to her; she stiffened up only the tiniest bit for a second before relaxing and ignoring me, which wasn't so weird at this point. I ate in silence for a little as Annabeth read, but a few minutes after I sat down she set down her book.

She stared straight forward as she took a bite of her own sandwich before saying, "Why don't you just leave me alone? Luke's right about me, you know."

I shrugged. I honestly didn't know why I couldn't leave her alone. There was just something about her that made it impossible to do so. So I said, "So what if Luke's right? I don't like people much either." That was a lie, but I decided it was okay in this case. "At least it'll be quiet this way."

The truth was that I was very much a people's person and generally got along well with people, but I didn't think it would be the best thing to take that back at that moment.

Annabeth finally looked over at me with narrowed eyes. I couldn't help but notice again how grey they were. She would have been a stereotypical California girl if it wasn't for those eyes. "Don't expect me to be friendly or anything."

I shrugged again. "Okay," I said simply, hoping I could make her break that promise sometime soon.

The rest of the lunch period passed in silence as we didn't look at each other and ate. I watched the people and decided this school was just like any other, though I hadn't really met anybody (or at least talked to anybody) like Annabeth in any of my other schools. When the bell rang we both stood up, Annabeth grabbing a pencil out of her pocket and twirling it between her fingers as she did so.

Odd.

We walked toward class together, and I was surprised to find that Annabeth and I had the same class again. I voiced aloud that this coincidence was a bit odd, to which Annabeth merely said, "My stepmother is the principal here. She put you in the same classes as me in the hope that we'd become friends." I looked at her in surprise and found that she looked really annoyed about it. "It's become really old really quickly."

"Hey, at least she's trying to look out for you," I said positively. "And it's working pretty well, don't you think?"

Annabeth's tone became a little colder as she said, "We aren't friends...and don't expect us to ever be friends."

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my mouth. "I'll try to keep that in mind," I said.

I glanced over at her to find that she looked a little irked. Man, she was cute when she was annoyed.

Well, she was plain cute period.

When we got to our science class, which was physics, we sat together again, though Annabeth went back to work on what I had now determined was most definitely a blueprint for a building. There were so many lines and minuscule numbers going on on the paper that I had no clue what she was writing about or planning to build.

Annabeth and I parted ways at the end of the period so I could head to the pool while she went off to P.E. While I was a little sad that I wouldn't get to see what sort of athleticism Annabeth possessed, I was more excited to get in the water and swim to my heart's content.

I could only be thankful that I had actually brought my swimming stuff.

I arrived at the pool to find what looked like all of the school's guy's swim teams (frosh, jv, and varsity), lined up around the pool with two men standing at the head. One of them looked to be my age while the other one was probably in his early twenties. Was the slightly older guy the coach?

The older one came up to me and shook my hand. "I'm Coach Robin," he said as way of introduction. He brought forth the guy my age and said, "This is Jordan Roberts. You're going to have to beat him if you want a spot on the team."

I looked around and determined that from the types of looks this Jordan guy was receiving, he was the top dog here...he had to have been the captain.

Somewhat of a large barrier to overcome had I not been a son of Poseidon. I could smoke this guy and I knew it. I could smoke pretty much anybody on the planet, actually, considering I was the only human child of Poseidon alive.

I shook his hand before going and changing, then came back out to find him ready to race. I stretched a bit and joined him. As we stood there ready to race, Jordan quietly said, "Coach doesn't expect you to beat me, you know. Just finish within five seconds of me and I'm sure you'll have a spot."

This guy must have thought he was some big shot. Five seconds? Now that was just insulting.

I decided that I probably shouldn't beat him though. Doing things like that generally got people believing that you were arrogant even if you weren't.

The members of the swim team looked as though they thought this was amusing, which made me think that this guy might actually be at least a little fast. Or maybe they were all just slow and he was the fastest of the slow guys.

The coach started the race, and in the end I made sure I only lost by about half a second. I made sure to try to look a little tired as I climbed out of the pool and sat waiting for the coach's verdict.

Jordan was looking at me like I was crazy as the coach walked towards me, and I noticed that pretty much everybody around the pool was looking at me much like Jordan was.

"Wow," the coach said, looking at me with wide eyes. "You only lost by a third of a second." So my estimation was a tiny bit off. "Jordan's the third-fastest high schooler in the country. Welcome to the team."

And so I was on the team. I joined in on their practice for sixth period and was told to be ready to swim every sixth period. While this wasn't much of a workout for me, it did help in training me to manage my control over water to an even further extent. Spending seven years in your father's underwater palace could only do so much, you know?

Jordan approached me at one point and thanked me for the race and for trying out for the team. Apparently none of the other guys were a real challenge for him and it was nice to have a new incentive to work hard. Many of the other swimming guys were pretty cool too.

I decided I liked being on the team.

I rushed to dry off change once the bell rang, hoping Annabeth wouldn't leave school too quickly. I had decided during practice that it would be pretty fun to walk home with her. Of course, her idea of fun and my idea of fun seemed to be polar opposites at the moment, though that didn't really bug me too much.

I rushed out to the gates and waited there, quickly apologizing to my new teammates, who were inviting me to hang out with them now that school was over. I made sure I didn't miss a face at entrance I was at, which was the front entrance. I just hoped Annabeth would take this exit rather than the back.

About ten minutes later, right when I was about to give it up as a lost cause, I spotted Annabeth leaving the school and heading right toward me.

I fell into step beside her and inwardly laughed as she quietly sighed. I didn't know why, but I found it kind of funny that she was annoyed.

So this was why she didn't have any friends.

I decided this was easy, though, and would view her cold attitude as funny. I knew how much she really wanted a friend, especially since I had spent my entire life trying to make friends at all the new schools I went to. I knew she was lonely and put the cold attitude on just for the sake of her reputation.

People rarely liked to deviate from what they were used to and I was threatening exactly that when it came to Annabeth.

We walked home in silence again, and I was pleased to find that Annabeth lived in the same direction from the school that I did. When we were only a block from the apartment complex I lived in, Annabeth suddenly stopped in front of what I assumed was the apartment building she lived in.

Without a word she went up to her door, and I called to her retreating back, "Annabeth." To my surprise, she completely stopped. I didn't even know what to say, and what came out of my mouth was the first thing that entered my brain. Looking back on it, I probably could have said almost anything else, even something like 'My dream is to ride on pink, fluffy unicorns when I grow up' and it would have been better than what I said next. "When's the last time you smiled?"

I didn't even know if I was being serious or sarcastic, maybe it was even subconscious maliciousness in reaction to her general demeanor.

Nevertheless, she turned and looked at me with those stormy eyes. Only this time, they looked pretty dead. The look made my insides feel like ice. Now that was one hell of a look. "Two years, seven months, and sixteen days."

The way she said it made me think that she was definitely counting day after miserable day. There was no way she was lying about this.

I should have said something right then.

But I didn't. I let her turn back around and go into her apartment building without another word from either of us. I did decide, though, that I would need to break her of her smiling drought. Everybody needed a good smile every once in awhile.

As I turned and began walking towards my own apartment complex, I found myself imagining what it would be like to have no reason to smile for almost three whole years.

And I felt alone.

**A/N: Man, it feels good to write some PJO again. Writing in the first person is always interesting, too! I slipped up a couple times and began writing in the third person (okay, maybe it was more than a couple of times...)!**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you take a few seconds to review! ^_^**


	2. Frostbite

**A/N: Hello again!**

**I hope you all enjoy the new chapter! And no, this isn't how long it will always take to update! :)**

**Chapter 2 – Frostbite**

I rubbed my hands together as I waited outside of Annabeth's apartment building, starting off the daily routine the two of us had for a good week and a half now. Annabeth would be coming down any second to ignore me as we walked to school, then ignore me throughout school and lunch, then ignore me as we walked home together. After the first day, it seemed that my progress with her had regressed if anything.

I knew I shouldn't have asked her when she last smiled.

Taking all of that into account, it's easy to understand why I was so surprised when the door barged open to reveal Annabeth in a heated discussion with who I assumed to be her dad.

"I'll be fine," she said, obviously annoyed. "It's only three blocks away."

They stepped onto the sidewalk as her father put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Annabeth, you've been getting more and more secluded this past week. I just wanted to have a quick talk with you."

Annabeth came to a stop, making me cower when I saw how she was trembling with rage. "Dad, you are the _last _person I need help from!" she said before shrugging his hand off. She spotted me at that moment and relief flared in her features. "Plus, I have a friend here," she said, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me with her towards school and away from her father.

I glanced behind me to see Annabeth's father look at her dejectedly, and I tried to give him the most apologetic face I could before turning back around and quietly asking Annabeth, "Family troubles?"

Annabeth was quiet for a moment, and I feared I had crossed another line for a moment. Then, finally, she said, "You don't even know."

My mind strayed to Gabe, who my mother had been with for a few years until finally leaving him last year. But rather than saying another stupid thing, I decided to think before saying, "What's going on?"

Annabeth scoffed. "My dad decided to try to take an interest in my life this morning out of the blue."

I pondered on that for a moment. "Well, if he hasn't been the best of fathers, maybe he's trying to better himself for your sake," I said, trying to be helpful. "Why not give him a chance?"

Annabeth looked at me incredulously, making me ashamed of myself though I didn't know for what reason. She just had a way with those looks she threw at me.

"Conversation over?" I asked, and she gave me a look that told me I was right on the dot.

I sighed and continued to walk by her side, pinpointing the exact moment I had gone wrong.

Note to self: Dad is a sore spot.

Annabeth chuckled a humorless chuckle. "Still want to be my friend?"

I could also pinpoint vulnerability.

Time to turn this right back on her. "No," I said.

And Annabeth stopped in her tracks, a hurt look on her face. I laughed. "And here I thought you said we would never be friends." Annabeth looked confused. "I was just kidding, Wise Girl."

"Wise Girl?" she asked incredulously. Then she shook her head. "Not the point. You're right. We aren't friends."

She turned and strode more determinedly towards school, but I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, come on, Annabeth," I said, and she looked at me coldly. "I didn't mean it, okay?"

She shook her head almost in what looked like disbelief before turning and walking alongside me again, though not fast enough for me to miss the slight look of relief that flashed across her face.

So I was right.

I grinned to myself and continued walking alongside her, though the rest of the walk passed in complete silence. So while her mood around me had seemed to regress, I had, in fact, made quite a bit of progress in this past week.

I felt my heart warm at the fact that I procured a look of relief from her. Now all I needed to do was get her to smile.

But how was I meant to do that?

I thought about it for the rest of the walk to the school, but all that came to mind was hanging out with Annabeth more and learning what sort of things I could do that would make her happy. Despite how Annabeth treated me, I had come to learn that there were enough good qualities in the intelligent blonde that made me want to put the effort into befriending her. I had always been told by mother that I was a good judge of character, and I was putting stock into those words right now.

"Yo! Percy! Annabeth!" called a voice from my right as we entered the school gates, and I smiled at Thalia as she came over to us.

"What's up, Thalia?" I asked as Annabeth stood at my side looking indifferent.

She shrugged. Yet another person I had deemed was worthy of my friendship, and I had made sure to spend some time with her and Nico over the past week. Nico was dark and mysterious and looked the part, and while Thalia looked the part like Nico, she was much more open and friendly. I found it quite humorous that they could be simultaneously similar and different, both in the extremes.

"I feel pretty good, actually," Thalia admitted. "There's just something so enjoyable about Fridays, don't you think?"

I chuckled wryly. "I don't know so much about Fridays, but I do enjoy the weekend," I said. Then I frowned. "Though I don't really have much to do during the weekends right now."

It was true. Ever since I had started here, I hadn't really had any friends to spend my weekends with. As sad as it was, I had spent the entirety of my last weekend reading. It turned out none of my 'friends' from my old school wanted to associate with me after I had been expelled. Turns out being a 'bad boy' wasn't so cool anymore.

I was only a decade too late.

Thalia gave me a sympathetic smile, which turned into a nervous smile and a blush as Nico approached. "I would love to hang out this weekend, Perce, but uh..." the blush deepened. "...Nico and I have some plans already."

I laughed, winking knowingly at the two. "I would hate to interfere," I said as we made our way indoors, fighting through our classmates to get to our lockers. This was exactly why I hated schools in the middle of the city. The whole indoor locker and hallways thing was such a pain sometimes.

Thalia then grinned right back at me. "Hey, why don't you and Annabeth hang out this weekend?" she asked, nudging me with her elbow. I scowled a bit as Annabeth scowled even harder. It was a good idea, but the way Thalia was putting it made it a bit awkward. "I'm sure she could use the company." And with that, she gave me a slap on the back and split ways, taking Nico with her and leaving me and Annabeth alone.

I turned to Annabeth and sighed, deciding to break a silence that was quickly becoming awkward thanks to Thalia. "I know how much you love spending time with me," I said jokingly, though she didn't seem to appreciate the humor much. "So how about it?"

There was no response from Annabeth until we reached my locker. We stopped unanimously and I turned to her, only for her to wait just a moment before she turned me with a look nearing disgust.

I sighed again. "Alright, I get it," I said, slightly annoyed. There was no need for her to be so resolute about being put off by the idea. At the very least, she could have humored the notion just to be polite.

As I grabbed my books, I checked my line of thought. I really was an idiot if I expected anything else from her.

"What do you even do during the weekend anyway?" I asked as an indirect way of apologizing for being rude. It was wrong of me to be annoyed at her normal behavior. The fault was mine for holding false expectations.

"Read," she answered as we headed to class, arriving a couple minutes before class started.

A thought struck me, and I tore out a piece of paper from my binder and wrote my phone number on it. I didn't have a cell because that was a one-way ticket to being swamped by monsters, but considering I would be sitting in home all weekend again anyway, there was almost no chance that I'd miss a call to my home phone.

I handed her the piece of paper, and she looked at it for a second before giving me a look of disbelief. Even she knew I wasn't stupid enough to think she'd actually call.

And I really didn't expect her to call, but I said, "Just in case." She was silent. "Is that alright?" I prompted.

Annabeth hesitated for a moment, as if afraid to concede even something as small as this. It made my heart wrench to see her in such turmoil over something so small, as if I might somehow find a crack in her defenses if she accepted my number.

Nevertheless, she sighed and took the paper, delicately folding it and putting it in her pocket before pointedly turning to her blueprints, leaving me to continue watching her. It was always interesting to see her face go from closed and guarded while dealing with other people to so concentrated and passionate when she was focused on her work.

If only she could always be so free and unguarded.

The day continued to proceed like normal, ending with another fun swim practice with my teammates, who I had become pretty close to this past week. It felt good to have such good guys as friends and a team that would be relying on me, and I found that I was enjoying swim far more than I had originally expected to.

When school let out, I waited by the gate as usual, falling into step beside Annabeth, who put away her book to glance over at me.

"Two weeks of school have passed since you started here," she said, starting conversation with me while walking home for the first time since the first day of school.

"So they have," I replied, interested in what point she was trying to make.

"Yet you still won't leave me alone," she continued.

I shrugged. Insecurities like usual. She really should have known she didn't have any good reason to be so insecure. "I don't plan to," I said simply.

It was the same answer I had used last Friday, yet it seemed to affect Annabeth much more than usual this time. Maybe she had expected my answer to change from one week to the next, once I had gotten to know her a little better.

I decided to voice my thoughts aloud this time. "You know, you really should have more confidence in yourself, Annabeth," I said, and she looked over at me in surprise. "You always carry yourself with what seems to be a bit of well-placed confidence, but it never carries through into your self-assessment."

Annabeth quickly turned her head away from me. "What makes you think you have the right to say that to me?" she asked quietly, though I could hear the anger in her voice.

Now it was my turn to be surprised, and all my idiot brain could come up with was, "What?"

She looked at me, and I felt fear course through me as I saw the rage burning in her eyes. And I understood right as she told me, "You don't know me. Don't tell me who I am."

With that, she adjusted her backpack and jogged ahead of me, jogging until she was out of sight, leaving me to walk home all alone.

I really, really needed to learn to think before I opened my stupid, fat mouth.

* * *

I sighed from my spot on the couch, groaning as I realized I had moved into a position that was even less comfortable than my previously uncomfortable position.

This was getting ridiculous.

I was sitting in the couch in the living room, reading...for the second day in a row this weekend. No matter what I tried, I couldn't find a comfortable position to read in. Also, it was the second weekend in a row that I was spending reading.

Sometimes having no friends (or very few) could be a real drag.

There was a positive in this, of course. Since I had picked up reading and become so avid in it, my dyslexia and the problems related to it had lessened. That didn't mean that it never bugged me anymore, but the problems involved with it had been significantly lessened.

I shifted again and let out a frustrated sigh. I had _finally _found a comfortable position. The only problem was that a shaft of sunlight from the (mostly) drawn curtains was hitting me right in the eyes. Instead of standing up and closing the curtains, knowing that I wouldn't be able to find this incredibly comfortable position again, I yelled out, "Mom! Mom!"

Sally Jackson came dashing in the room, a fearful look in her eyes. "What is it, Percy?" she asked wildly, holding a spatula like a sword. "Is everything alright?"

I couldn't help but laugh. Between my mom's disheveled hair, food-stained apron, and wildly-wielded spatula, she looked a little funny. "I'm fine," I said. "I just need you to shut those curtains for me."

My mom put her hands on her hips and gave me an incredulous look before marching over to the window and spreading the curtains wide, allowing even more sun in.

"Mom!" I said, curling into a ball and blocking my eyes from the light with my hand.

My mother sat beside me on the couch and put a hand on me, looking at me imploringly. "Percy, honey, you need to get out of the house," she said.

I couldn't believe my ears. "What are you talking about, Mom?" I asked. "When I was fourteen, all you would ask of me would be to read." I knew I was being unfair, because I knew what she really meant, but I didn't want to go outside and be utterly bored, unable to do anything.

My mom smiled at me lovingly. "I love that you love to read now, Percy, I really do," she said. "I'm not telling you to stop, either. But...well...to be blunt, you're nearly eighteen now and you spend every weekend inside. Reading. By yourself."

I sighed. There were some instances where my mother was right...okay, so maybe she was right most of the time. "I know mom, and it's not like I haven't made any friends," I said. "They're all just busy this weekend. I'll go out next weekend."

I knew that it might be impossible for me to keep that promise, especially if my friends ended up being busy next weekend too. I needed to say something to appease my mother, though. Today was a lazy day.

But my mom folded her arms, digging in for a long haul. So much for staying indoors. "No, you're going out today," she said in a tone of voice that invited no argument. "I don't care if you walk down to the park to read, but you need to get out and get some fresh air." She stood up and said, "Now come on, Percy. Up."

I groaned and stood up. "And don't be so melodramatic," she said, smiling at me knowingly.

Sometimes it was tough having such a smart and cool mother.

I stretched and slowly walked to the door with my book in my hand, hearing the phone ring as I did so. I continued heading out as I heard my mom say, "Jackson residence," but at that point I was already thinking of where I was going to go to read.

I didn't read outside often, but I was only a few blocks from Central Park and figured that was as good a place as any. Maybe I could pick up a coffee to combat the slightly chilly air. This wasn't really such a bad idea after all.

Just as I was about to close the door, my mom frantically called ot, "Percy, wait!"

Hearing my name got me to stop in my tracks, and my mom continued by saying, "Phone's for you!"

I frowned and stepped back into the house, wondering who could possibly be calling. I took the phone from my mother, who was grinning mischievously at me, making me even more confused until I heard who was on the line.

"Percy?" said the voice, and all of my attention was immediately diverted to the speaker.

"Annabeth?" I said back. She was probably the last person I had expected on the phone. I quickly gathered my thoughts and asked, "Is everything alright?"

There was a short silence, and I knew immediately that everything was not alright. I could also tell she didn't want to talk about it...at least, not right now over the phone. Before she could say anything, I said, "I'll be there in five."

Another silence. Seriously, these silences were killing me. There was obviously something wrong and I knew I was probably the only person on the planet Annabeth would even consider telling. It was my responsibility to be there for her.

"Would it be alright if I came over to your house?" she asked quietly, the tone of her voice making my stomach twist.

"Yeah yeah yeah, that's fine," I said quickly, knowing my mother wouldn't mind, then gave her my address.

She thanked me and hung up, and I put the phone back before turning to my mother, thoroughly confused.

What could have Annabeth in such a situation that not only would she call me, but she asked to come to my house? This was definitely not how I envisioned my weekend playing out, but I had to admit that it was more exciting than anything I had envisioned, too (barring a sudden appearance by a monster, of course).

"There's a girl coming over?" my mom asked, unable to curb the excitement in her voice. "Girlfriend, perhaps?"

I looked at her in disbelief. "Mom, would I be spending my weekends reading if I had a girlfriend?"

"Oh, right," she said, then added, "Well, I'm glad I'm making cookies!"

I sighed. My mom, having heard only my half of the situation, obviously couldn't tell that something serious was going on. "Mom, I'll give you a longer, more detailed story later. I promise," I said. "But I'm going to have to ask you to give me and Annabeth some time alone to talk. She sounded...distraught."

My mom's face fell. "That's fine," she said a bit sadly, then said, "But you also have to promise that I'll be able to meet her properly sometime soon."

"Fine, fine," I said absentmindedly, setting my book down on the table. So much for finishing that by the end of the night. Annabeth would only need a couple minutes to make it over here, and I quickly ran into my room and cleaned up, just in case, for any reason, we went in there.

No harm in at least seeming like a clean person.

Approximately seven minutes and thirty-four seconds after I had hung up (but honestly, who was counting?), there was a knock at the door. I ran to the door and wrenched it open to find Annabeth standing there, a scarf drawn all the way up above her mouth. I honestly didn't think it was cold enough to warrant such a clothing choice, but I handled the cold better than most.

We were silent as I took her in, noting that I was looking at her with her hair down for the first time. It was covering the right half of her face.

I smiled and invited her in, leading her to the living room, where she gratefully took a seat on the couch but made no move to remove her scarf or heavy coat. I found that odd, but asked if she was thirsty nonetheless. She nodded and asked for water, and I went to fetch it from the kitchen, trying to determine what was going on with her.

Whatever it was, all I knew was that I was apprehensive about it.

I grabbed the water and took it back out to the living room, where Annabeth had finally shed some of the heavier clothing she had been wearing. She turned her head away from me as she quietly thanked me, increasing my concern even more.

I stood above her, waiting for her to finally turn to me and face me. After more than a minute of this, I decided that I would need to take charge of this conversation. There was something she was hiding from me, and I needed to know what. She needed help whether she wanted to admit it or not.

"Annabeth," I said, making her jump a little at the sound of my voice. She turned her head minutely to show that she was listening, but still didn't face me. "You call me out of the blue and make me worry. You ask to come to my house, and now you refuse to even look at me. What am I supposed to do?"

With all of the reading I had done, I had learned a fair bit about women. I knew they liked to be in control, especially when feeling emotional, and felt that it would be better to give Annabeth a choice.

But when she didn't respond again, I kneeled in front of her, making her turn her head even further from my direction, the side of her face covered by her hair facing me. And I suddenly knew what she was hiding, and what I thought she secretly wanted me to find out without her outright telling me.

I slowly, carefully raised my hand to her hair and pushed it back behind her ear, taking a breath in as a hiss. The side of her face covered by her hair, the reason she had her scarf pulled so high up her face, and undoubtedly the reason she wanted to meet me in private, was prominently displayed on her face.

There was an angry red mark in the shape of a hand on her cheek, but even on top of that there were four red lines running down her smooth skin. Questions threatened to burst out of me at a rapid pace, but I decided to actually think once before talking. The only likely outcome of me questioning her would be her closing up and withdrawing into herself even more. So gently turned her head to face me, my heart clenching in my chest when I saw unshed tears making her eyes glisten. She hadn't even been turning away from me to hide the slap mark; she had been hiding from me to hide that she was incredibly close to crying.

I did nothing but school my features into a calm mask rather than the worry I wanted to show, and I smiled softly at her. "I'm gonna go grab some hydrogen peroxide to clean those out, okay?" I said quietly.

She looked at me thankfully and in relief before nodding, and I ran to my bathroom to grab an alcohol pad and a betadine pad. My mom had stocked the bathroom pretty well with first-aid stuff, since she had a demigod son and didn't have any nectar or ambrosia. I went back to the living room and cleaned Annabeth's face up, using the betadine directly on the cuts to reduce infection and cleaning up around the scratches with the alcohol. When I was all done, I grinned at her and said, "Not too bad, eh?"

She shook her head sadly, and I sighed and headed into the kitchen, where I found my mother waiting patiently. I said, "We could probably use those cookies, mom."

She gave me a motherly smile and gestured to the table, where the cookies were already laid out neatly on a plate.

I grinned at her. "You're really awesome. You know that, right?" I said, proud of how cool my mom was.

She grinned right back. "Believe me, I know," she said without any modesty, making me chuckle before heading back out to Annabeth with the cookies.

I set them on the table and sat in the chair adjacent to the couch, grabbing a cookie and taking a bite out of it, blue crumbs falling onto my shirt.

"Why're they blue?" Annabeth asked quietly, seeming almost uninterested, or, as I saw it, preoccupied. She had a cookie in her hands, but was doing nothing but slowly turning it.

"Long story," I replied just as quietly, relaxing back in my chair as I finished my cookie.

Annabeth continued to stare at the cookie in her hands, hardly moving an inch as seconds turned into minutes. I continued to sit, moving about as much as Annabeth, looking at her with worried eyes. I knew she was going to tell me what had happened by the night's end...I just had no idea how long it would take her to get to it. I would wait patiently until she was ready, deciding this was much more important than finding out what happened at the end of the book I was reading. Even though Annabeth refused to grant me the title of 'friend,' I knew I was the closest thing she had to one. I was the only person she would confide in, and I would be there when she was ready and would offer as much support and advice as I could.

My mother retreated into her own room, no doubt to work on her writing, and I mentally thanked her once again for having tact and not embarrassing me and scaring off Annabeth. I could feel in my gut that this would be a turning point for her, whether for better or for worse. Personally, I was hoping for the better.

I couldn't help it as I felt myself begin to doze off, my brain shutting down from sitting in the same position for so long. It didn't help that the setting sun provided the perfect warmth as I sat comfortably in the chair, my head leaning back against the cushy back, sinking into it in a way that sucked and pulled at my consciousness.

There was just a bit of pink left in the sky and I was just barely awake by the time Annabeth had collected and sorted through her thoughts and decided to speak. "It..." my head snapped up, all vestiges of sleep leaving my brain completely. Annabeth licked her lips, still staring at the cookie. "It was my stepmother."

_Oh gods_. That was terrible. I remained silent, though, allowing her to continue at her own pace. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin her train of thought by interrupting her.

She brought a shaking hand up and gently touched the fading red handprint on her cheek. "My stepmother hit me," she whispered.

I still couldn't tell whether she was talking to me or herself.

I guess it didn't really matter anyway.

She laughed disbelievingly and finally looked at me, her eyes wide, glistening. "I never thought she would raise her hand...I..." her lips trembled. "I deserved it," she said in shame. "I deserved it, Percy," she said miserably, drawing her knees up to her chest. "I put the family in danger."

My mind was racing a mile a minute at this point, and couldn't hold in a question. "How did you put them in danger?" I asked, then winced at my bluntness and volume.

She swallowed hard and merely shook her head vigorously, averting her eyes from mine. "Then I blamed her," she said bitterly. "I was weak and immature and I knew it every second I was blaming her."

She was beating herself up and it killed me to see it. So I stood up, walked over to her, and kneeled in front of her, gently taking her hands in mine. I was surprised to feel how cold she was, but brushed that aside and sincerely met her eyes with my own.

"Nobody deserves to be struck," I said. "Especially by a parent figure." I hated myself for stumbling over my words, saying what came to mind and nothing else. "No matter what you said or did, there is _nothing _you could have possibly done to deserve that if everybody came out of whatever it was you did unharmed." My speech grew stronger as I drove my point home, my eyes burning with emotion, making her eyes widen even more.

Then they narrowed. "You don't know _anything_," she said scathingly, hurt blazing in her eyes, making my heart clench.

And for the first time, I felt anger well up in my chest at Annabeth. I could take her being cold to me, but to completely brush aside what I had to say and how I felt was another thing entirely.

I quelled it quickly, though, deciding this wasn't the time nor place to say something I might regret. A reaction like this, while very unwelcome, wasn't entirely unreasonable in a situation like this.

She had ventured out from behind her walls probably farther than she ever had before, and when she realized it, she closed them even tighter than before.

I looked down at her hands, which were still in mine, and quietly said, "I know a lot more than you think." I thought of Gabe and how he treated my mother, the drunken fights he had instigated with me, and most of all, of Calypso, oddly enough. While the Calypso part may have seemed unrelated to Annabeth's problem, the fact of the matter was that thinking of what happened still brought me pain and unhappiness.

I saw my mother's head peek out from behind the corner. She had undoubtedly come to see what was happening after hearing the sounds of our voices. Deciding to shift the mood to a more positive tone and asked Annabeth, "Do you like meatloaf?"

She seemed to be caught by surprise, and looked at me warily. Finally, after deciding this wasn't some sort of trick, she answered, "...yes."

I grinned. "Good," I said. "Because you're having dinner with me and my mom."

I didn't know what I had said or done, but Annabeth's breathing started hitching and her eyes began filling with tears. Not good. I had never been able to handle crying women well. My greatest fear was lined in gold, however, when Annabeth fell forward onto me so we were both sitting on the floor, her arms wrapped around my neck as she sobbed into my shoulder.

As I rubbed her back, now thoroughly confused and somewhat relieved, I locked eyes with my mom and she nodded.

I held Annabeth as she clung to me desperately, sobbing into my shoulder, making my heart burn with a desire to protect with a determination I'd never felt before. I vowed to myself right then and there that I'd never let Annabeth cry like this again for as long as I knew her.

It was a good thing I had caller ID.

**A/N: And the plot thickens. More backstory to come as the two get to know each other. And Percy might just learn how to say the right thing at the right time. :P**

**Review if you get the chance please! Reviews really make my day and writing enjoyable!**


	3. Spark

**A/N: I'm terribly sorry for this horrendously tardy update. Finals have sucked every last ounce of energy out of me and I've been having family issues on top of that. But everything's wrapping up quite nicely here, so I finally have time to write! Yay! I missed you all so so much!**

**Chapter 3 - Spark**

"Chase residence," the voice on the other line said.

"Hello Mrs. Chase, this is Percy Jackson," I said, my hand clenched around the phone. Annabeth was sitting on the couch watching the television as my mother put the finishing touches on dinner, and I was on the phone over in my room, clenching the plastic device so hard it was close to breaking. I was seeing red.

"Oh, Mr. Jackson," Mrs. Chase said, her voice adopting a more professional tone. "I normally don't accept or expect calls from students on my home phone." Silence. "Are you settling in well?"

I felt anger rise up to my throat and scoffed. "I was up until now."

"Why?" Mrs. Chase asked, confused. "What's the matter?"

"What's the matter?" I asked. "What's the matter?!" I yelled. "You expect me to believe this load of crap you display over the phone, pretending to be professional and caring about kids when your own stepdaughter came to my house bleeding from where you hit her?"

I was screaming into the mouthpiece by the end of my tirade, and had to quickly put the earpiece back up to my ear to hear her response.

Her hesitation made my eye twitch. Oh, if only it was possible to strangle someone through the phone. She sighed a sigh that stopped me in my tracks, however. That was the sad, tired sigh of somebody who knew they had done wrong. That wasn't the sigh I was supposed to be hearing. She was supposed to get angry back so I could yell at her some more. If she did this and expressed regret, I would feel guilty if I kept yelling at her.

"I'm glad to hear Annabeth is safe, at the very least," she confessed. "Frederick and I have been worried sick. I don't know why I'm divulging so much information to one of my students, but since you had the good grace to take her in and take care of her, I probably owe you a bit of explanation."

I was stumped. This was not at all how I envisioned this conversation going, and couldn't think of anything to say that would get it back where I wanted it: in my control.

"I can't get too specific as to why, but Annabeth put the entire family in mortal danger today," Mrs. Chase said. "Then she got defensive, tried to shift the blame elsewhere, and went on a long tirade about why I was a terrible person." Her voice broke and I finally felt guilt seep throughout my body. "I snapped. I...I didn't mean to hit her. I had already struck her before I realized what I was doing."

I swallowed hard. This was serious stuff. Stuff that I had no right to know.

"I-I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I only had half the story."

"No, it's quite alright," Mrs. Chase said quietly. "I never thought I would hit a child, and am still sick to my stomach that I did so today. It's unacceptable. I...maybe I am a terrible person," she said more to herself than to me. And, as cool and mature as I like to think I am, I couldn't think of any means of consoling her. She just sounded so ashamed of herself that it made me feel ashamed of myself, and that wasn't a good feeling by any means.

It wasn't until Mrs. Chase talked again that I remembered that I was still on the phone, having drifted off in thought. "Is there any chance that Annabeth will come back here tonight?" she asked slightly hopefully.

She wanted to make up with Annabeth. Gods, I was an idiot for jumping to conclusions. Nobody was the real bad guy here. This situation was born from both of them doing things they shouldn't have. They both shouldered responsibility.

"I don't know," I responded truthfully. "I'll have to talk to her."

More silence. "Well, will you make sure she understands that her father and I both love her very much? I...I think she's lost sight of that," Mrs. Chase said. "I think I lost sight of that."

These women were breaking my heart.

"Of course," I said, my throat dry. "What if she doesn't want to go back, though?"

This time, the silence on the phone indicated that Mrs. Chase was thinking, which was more reassuring than her shame-filled silences. "I know it's too much to ask, but if it would be possible for Annabeth to stay with you for tonight, I can sleep knowing she'll be safe," she said hopefully.

I nodded before I remembered that she couldn't see my response through the phone. "Of course," I said. "I wouldn't be able to sleep if I knew she was in danger, either."

"Thank you so much," Mrs. Chase said in relief. "I'm glad Annabeth has found someone who cares for her other than her family. Thank you."

I sighed. "Any time," I said, and hung up.

I crouched down with the phone in my hands, thinking furiously. It sounded as though Mrs. Chase was truly sorry for what she had done and was completely and utterly ashamed of herself. What was I supposed to say or yell to a woman that understood the severity of the mistake she had made?

And while hitting a minor was inexcusable, Annabeth certainly played a part in all of this. That slap wasn't unprovoked. And he could tell Annabeth really did care for her stepmother, even if she didn't show it to her face. He was sure she wanted to make up, too.

If only there was a way to get her to go back home tonight, especially when they had school the next day and Annabeth didn't have her school stuff with her. She had most likely finished her homework by now, but she would have to go back home the next morning to prepare for school that day.

All in all, it seemed as though the best course of action would be to get Annabeth to go home tonight, which would be challenging, to say the least. She was so stubborn.

"Percy, dinner!" my mom called, and all thoughts about how complicated this situation was left my mind when the delicious smell of meatloaf filled my nose.

I headed to the dining table, where my mother and Annabeth were already seated, silently waiting for me. I knew I needed to talk to Annabeth about going back to her own home tonight, but didn't want to do so in front of my mother. I had a bad feeling it was going to be an ugly conversation.

I sat down and smiled at the two, genuinely pleased that we were having meatloaf. My mom's meatloaf was the best, and I wasn't letting anything come in between me and my enjoyment of eating it.

I dug in as Annabeth and my mother did the same, Annabeth's eyes widening when she tasted it, which was the usual reaction.

"It's so good, Ms. Jackson," she said, immediately taking another bite.

My mom smiled. "I'm glad you like it, Annabeth. I do have to say, though, that Percy probably isn't as happy to have you here as you think," she said slyly. At Annabeth's confused look, she said, "Now he won't have as much leftover to eat tomorrow!"

I laughed, considering that it was actually true, and Annabeth looked at me like I was an idiot. The leftovers were almost as good as the fresh stuff.

Once we had all had a few bites, my mother asked Annabeth, "So, what do you want to study in college, Annabeth?"

Annabeth answered quickly, as I knew she would. "Architecture," came the sure reply. "I love designing buildings."

My mother looked fairly impressed. "That's quite an ambition," she said, then gestured to me. "And quite a bit farther along than Percy's thought, unfortunately."

So I had never really discussed what I wanted to do with my future. All I ever told her was that I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up, which, of course, was a lie. I knew what I wanted to do, I just had a bad feeling my mother wouldn't really agree with my life plan is all. After all, she wants me to go college and make good money when I get out. Unfortunately, school isn't exactly my forte, thus college was pretty much out of the picture for me. Instead, I was interested in seeking out a position at some sort of aquarium, where I would be able to converse with sea life all day, or I would want to work as a counselor at Camp Half-Blood, which is where my dad had told me all sorts of Half-Bloods attended. I wasn't able to go to Camp Half-blood at all because my dad didn't want me to, but I always thought it would be an interesting place.

So I kept my mouth shut, and Annabeth once again looked at me weird. I shrugged at her, and she took another bite, then said, "Thank you for letting me eat here, Ms. Jackson."

My mother smiled at her and said, "Oh, it's no problem at all. I'm just glad Percy has a friend over for once."

Annabeth hesitated, and I felt myself grow a bit sad that she still couldn't bring herself to call me her friend, even after everything we went through earlier today. Then she surprised me.

"I'm...uh...glad I had somebody who would want me to come over," she admitted quietly, not meeting my eyes.

I had to admit, I felt a little touched that she didn't embarrass me in front of my mom by saying we weren't friends. Then again, she didn't outright say that we were friends, either, so I'm pretty sure it was just her being tactful for me.

The rest of dinner passed smoothly, and when we were all done, I set Annabeth back up in front of the television and went into the kitchen to help my mother with the dishes.

"I didn't know you were friends with such a cute young lady," were, of course, the first words to come out of my mother's mouth. I knew it was coming all along, and had prepared myself to the point that I didn't blush. She smiled at me slyly and nudged my arm. "Are you interested in her as girlfriend material, perhaps?"

I shrugged. "Nah, not really," I replied honestly. I mean, how could I call anyone 'girlfriend material' when I didn't even really know them? Two weeks wasn't enough to decide, though I had to admit that she was pretty good in the physical aspect. Now it was time to ask the real question, though. "Hey, is it alright if Annabeth stays the night if she doesn't want to go back home?"

My mother seemed to sense how serious I was, and thankfully didn't make any jokes about what a teenage guy and a teenage girl might do together in a house. She knew I was telling the truth about her last question. That was the great part about having a parent who trusted you.

"Of course, honey," she said. Then she smiled a motherly smile. "But you have to promise to be a gentleman and let her sleep on your bed."

I rolled my eyes. "You ground the whole gentleman thing into my head by now," I said. "Don't worry about it, mom."

She tousled my hair, and for an odd moment I felt like I was eight years old again. Then she turned back to the dishes and I helped her out. When we were finished, she bade me good night, good luck, and then went to her room to write a bit before she would head off to bed.

Now it was time to do what I was dreading.

I walked out into the living room, where Annabeth had turned off the T.V. and was now lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. I took a deep breath, hoping this would go well. I could do it. I could convince her to go back home to reconcile with her stepmother.

I took a confident step into the room, and without any hesitation at all and without even glancing at me, Annabeth said, "No."

And I was taken by surprise, all of my momentum and confidence lost. "Excuse me?" I said stupidly.

"I'm not going back there tonight," she said, putting an arm over her eyes. "I'll pick my stuff up before school." She raised her arm a bit to peek at me. "Is it okay if I stay here tonight?"

"It is," I said sadly, casting my eyes down. I couldn't give up that easily, even if she seemed to be pretty staunch in her decision. "But I really think you should try going home and talking with your stepmother."

Annabeth sighed an annoyed sigh that managed to make me feel stupid. "I'm not going back, Percy. Please don't try to make me feel guilty or anything."

I rubbed my forehead tiredly. "I wasn't going to guilt you," I said. "I was merely going to appeal to your logic and emotions."

Annabeth looked at me skeptically, then said, "I won't take what you say into account."

I clenched my fist. She was too stubborn for her own good. I just had a feeling in my gut that this would be better for her in the long wrong. "What if I told you I called your stepmom and she said she wants to apologize?" I said in an attempt to half-guilt her.

There, I said it.

Annabeth faltered. "Y-you did that? When?" she asked.

"Right before dinner," I admitted sheepishly. "I wanted to tell her that what she had done was wrong, and...well...one thing led to another." Then I met her eyes more confidently. "She really does want to apologize, you know."

Annabeth assessed if I was telling the truth for a moment, then sighed and let her eyes close. "I can't," she said. "I need some time to cool off. I just...I don't want to...not tonight." Then her eyes opened again and she looked at me a bit gratefully. "And...um...thank you for letting me know that she's sorry."

I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, glad that I had brought this up with her. This was going even better than expected. I had thought she would yell at me and call me an idiot for doing something so personal. this was actually quite nice even if I wasn't achieving much in terms of getting her to go back home tonight.

I told her, "Then you're staying here tonight."

She looked at me defiantly. "Says who?" she said haughtily.

And we were back to normal.

I narrowed my eyes at her. I wasn't going to let her treat me like this forever, especially when I knew she appreciated my company as one would a friend's. "If I say nobody, then what's your plan for tonight?"

She hadn't been expecting that, and her face showed it. "What?" she said, confused.

"I'm asking where you'll go if you don't stay here tonight," I explained a bit slower.

She picked at the end of the armrest for a moment as she thought furiously, then she lowered her eyes and grudgingly said, "Nowhere."

I grinned. Finally I had the upper hand for once. "I'm sorry," I said. "Could you say that a bit louder?"

Annabeth's eye twitched in what my guess was anger. "I don't have anywhere to go tonight if I don't stay here, okay?" she said. "No need to be so smug about it."

I chuckled. "I can be smug about whatever I want," I said tauntingly.

She merely looked at me like I was stupid again. "Idiot," she muttered, then took a deep breath. "Thank you very much for letting me stay tonight," she said with no sarcasm whatsoever, slightly bowing her head to me.

I was impressed and felt my chest tighten at the sight of her being something other than cold to me for once. She may not have been happy or smiling, but the fact that she could thank me with such sincerity was certainly a much-welcomed change.

"It's my pleasure," I said softly, giving her a light smile. "After all, that's what friends do for each other, right?"

I knew I shouldn't be saying it, but honestly, the predictable reaction she gave me (i.e. 'The Death Glare') helped lighten the far too serious mood that had developed between us.

I checked the clock, which read a couple minutes until nine. I really liked getting eight hours of sleep a night, and figured that if I went to bed at that moment I would be receiving just that, having to wake up earlier to get Annabeth's stuff and all.

So we headed to bed, and after I had taken my room to change into my pajamas, I gracefully offered Annabeth my bed.

She lightly blushed, then asked where I would be sleeping.

"Well, on the couch in the living room, I suppose," I said lightheartedly. I really didn't mind, considering how comfortable the couch was out there. When I was younger, I would frequently try to think of excuses that would make my mom have to let me sleep out on the couch.

When I didn't get any response, I said, "Good night, Annabeth. See you in the morning."

She did nothing but sit on my bed and look at me, her expression a bit strained.

I turned and opened the door, deciding that I would never understand what was going through her head. What had I said that was so weird anyway?

"Don't leave," came her voice from behind me. I stopped, confused. "...please, don't leave."

I felt my chest begin to get tight again, far tighter than before, and I turned back around to look at her. I don't know if it was coincidence that night or if far greater powers were at work (*cough* Aphrodite *cough*), but the low moon that silhouetted Annabeth, seeming to make her glow, and the mixed expression of fear and longing on her face struck a powerful chord in me. My chest wound so tight that I was sure I was about to break, and I was unable to move, completely transfixed. Long blonde hair spilled down Annabeth's shoulders and back, offsetting her pale skin, and her intricately complex grey eyes were unwavering, meeting mine in near-desperation, the sight driving all of the breath out of me.

Quite honestly, I had never felt anything like this before and I immediately knew that I wanted to feel like this as much as possible. I didn't know exactly what had triggered the feeling, but knew that it had to do with Annabeth.

I nodded dumbly and Annabeth looked relieved, then blushed furiously and laid down, turning away from me rather abruptly. To be honest, I was more than a little confused, especially with what was going on with my own emotions. I did my best to shrug it off and got a sleeping bag from my closet, then set up on the floor next to the bed.

Neither of us said anything for the rest of the night, and I quickly fell asleep to the taunting image of long blonde hair dancing behind my eyelids.

* * *

And then we were in front of the entrance to Annabeth's apartment. Waking up had gone well enough, especially since my mom had made us a delicious, hearty, blue breakfast. Well, except the bacon. It seemed that blue bacon was a bit difficult to come by.

We had been staring at Annabeth's apartment for almost a minute now, both of us wondering if there was anybody home. Annabeth surely had a better idea than I, but the fact that she still hadn't made a move to go inside made me think her idea was only slightly better than mine.

"Go in with me," she said.

I knew she meant to ask politely considering the tone of her voice was so quiet, and that she was so nervous right now that it was beginning to make me want to fidget. Or maybe that was just my adhd.

"Alright," I said back just as quietly, and she went in with me trailing close behind her.

We went up to the third floor and went up to the second door on the left, where Annabeth inserted her key after missing the lock a couple times. She opened it and we braced ourselves, curiously looking into the apartment only to thankfully find that there was no activity. Either they were all asleep or they had all already left.

The mess of toys and drawings around the floor and tables led me to believe that Annabeth had much younger siblings. One drawing in particular caught my interest; it was that of Annabeth fighting off what looked to be a hydra with a knife.

I couldn't help but laugh at the coincidence, and I must admit that I found it humorous that Annabeth's siblings knew of Greek myths. Sensing my gaze, Annabeth quickly snatched up the paper embarrassedly and stuffed it into her pocket, then the two of us continued our trek through her surprisingly spacious apartment. I knew this apartment building was a little more prestigious than my own, but didn't know that with the increase in cost came so much more room.

Learn something new every day, right?

We finally reached what I assumed to be Annabeth's room, for when we opened the door I came face to face with walls that were completely covered by pictures and blueprints of various famous buildings. It wasn't really all that girly, living up to my expectations, except for the pink comforter and fluffy pillow.

Annabeth shooed me out so she could change, having already taken a shower at my house, and came out a couple minutes later in her usual jeans and t-shirt. She handed me her bag as she pulled on her sweatshirt, which reminded me just how much of a rush Annabeth was in to avoid any potentially awkward conversations.

We walked back out the way we came, nothing happening all the way up until the point we reached the front door, which was coincidentally right when Annabeth and I let down our guards. a woman I assumed to be Annabeth's stepmother froze as she stepped into view with her coffee, her eyes wide as she took us in.

"Annabeth," she breathed, and I saw that she was getting ready to apologize.

Annabeth tensed up, wrenched the door open, grabbed my hand, and dragged me out of her apartment at breakneck speed. We flew down the stairs and out onto the street, huffing and puffing from our sudden bout of exercise.

"Why did you run?" I asked her a bit angrily, and the rest of my rant caught in my throat when I turned to face her and saw that her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

A lump rose in my throat along with my rant, and I grabbed Annabeth's hand, startling her. I had to admit that Annabeth's hand felt pretty good in mine, especially how soft it was and how well it fit in my own. I grinned at her and said, "Let's go."

I dragged Annabeth along with me as we weaved through the people walking down the sidewalk, earning more than a few angry shouts at us to act our age.

I knew this wasn't enough to get Annabeth to smile, but I figured that if I did this then she at least might not cry. We ran all the way to school, and when we stopped in front of the gates I finally let go of Annabeth's hand, immediately missing it as I did so.

I turned to look at her, exhilaration plastered on my face and coursing through my body, and slight relief shining through hers along with a slight pink tinge to her cheeks. Whether it was becuase of cold or something else was beyond me.

"Shall we go in, then?" I asked her, feeling much closer to her than I had previously for some reason.

She nodded resolutely and walked in with her head held high and me at her side.

This was going to be a good school year.

I could feel it.

**A/N: That was difficult to write, and once again I apologize for the wait and promise (I am a man, and my promises are unbroken) a quicker update for the next one. So, until the next one, I bid you all adieu!**


End file.
